12 ms·

Artificial sweeteners hit the same receptors as sugar but have no calories - can't we make similar chemicals for other tastes?

cma 4y ago
olestra
- coding123 4y ago
  Many of us older folks know that while this is both a correct answer to the question, it is also one of your typical butt jokes from the late 90s early 2000s.
  - bioemerl 4y ago
    Still, I'll take a bit of oil there in exchange for being able to eat infinite deep fried food.
    - NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
      From reports about the side-effects of Olestra, the problem extends beyond "a bit" and also into the realm of volitional control of the activity.
    - Beaver117 4y ago
      I looked into it, its not 'a bit'. You'll need to stock up on diapers.
paulpauper 4y ago
does not work as well as the real thing what is needed is a good fat substitute. that is where most of the calories come from
- zwkrt 4y ago
  I feel like this is a classic example of trying to engineer a non-engineering problem. Isn't what we need to just maybe not eat so much? As an aside, most people's calories come mainly from carbohydrates anyhow.
  - yetihehe 4y ago
    > Isn't what we need to just maybe not eat so much? It's easy to say "we JUST need to eat less". Everyone already knows this. I know this, but somehow it's very hard for me to actually eat less, I feel a lot of pain and can't concentrate when I try to eat less, which leads to eating more again. I've tried many times to just eat less, but it somehow doesn't work. I think that your idea is just not that easy.
    - cheald 4y ago
      Have you tried very low carb diets? I maintain a strict keto diet (<20g carbs/day), and when I'm in ketosis the hunger impulse is almost entirely gone. I'm very active - I train Brazilian jiujitsu and lift - and despite that, there are days that I'll just forget to eat because I'm not hungry unless there's food in front of me. My brain is absolutely addicted to sugar, though, and if I start eating it I get just insatiably ravenous. The combination of sugar/fat/salt together is a perfect storm of "put all that into my face and don't stop until there's no more left" brain chemistry triggers, and how that's most of our prepackaged food is constructed now.
      - yetihehe 4y ago
        I've tried, didn't work for me. The best results was on a special diet I've created myself (based on weighing myself+food and slowly driving that sum down), but after going 116 -> 104kg I felt REAL hunger, where you feel that every cell of your body craves for energy, it was a month after ability to ignore normal "empty stomach" hunger. I went back almost all the way. No other diet came even close to any results, I couldn't even stick to most of them.
loeg 4y ago
Some sweeteners are just sugar plus another molecule to prevent absorption. That’s sort of what orlistat does to oils. It’s somewhat unpleasant because the oils just come out the other end instead of being digested.
anonymouse008 4y ago
Do we know if our bodies still produce insulin in preparation upon tasting something sweet? If so, does that cause harm to our overall metabolic performance?
- ghostbrainalpha 4y ago
  A lot of "Sugar Free" desserts will cause my Glucose to spike even higher than their full sugar equivalent. I was shocked when I tested myself after buying the diabetes friendly "Sugar Free Worther's Original" candy.
  - metadat 4y ago
    Curious if Vitamin Water Zero drinks also effect blood sugar similarly. I've done some web searching but haven't found any results inspiring confidence.

cma 4y ago

olestra

coding123 4y ago
Many of us older folks know that while this is both a correct answer to the question, it is also one of your typical butt jokes from the late 90s early 2000s.
- bioemerl 4y ago
  Still, I'll take a bit of oil there in exchange for being able to eat infinite deep fried food.
  - NovemberWhiskey 4y ago
    From reports about the side-effects of Olestra, the problem extends beyond "a bit" and also into the realm of volitional control of the activity.
  - Beaver117 4y ago
    I looked into it, its not 'a bit'. You'll need to stock up on diapers.

paulpauper 4y ago

does not work as well as the real thing what is needed is a good fat substitute. that is where most of the calories come from

zwkrt 4y ago
I feel like this is a classic example of trying to engineer a non-engineering problem. Isn't what we need to just maybe not eat so much? As an aside, most people's calories come mainly from carbohydrates anyhow.
- yetihehe 4y ago
  > Isn't what we need to just maybe not eat so much? It's easy to say "we JUST need to eat less". Everyone already knows this. I know this, but somehow it's very hard for me to actually eat less, I feel a lot of pain and can't concentrate when I try to eat less, which leads to eating more again. I've tried many times to just eat less, but it somehow doesn't work. I think that your idea is just not that easy.
  - cheald 4y ago
    Have you tried very low carb diets? I maintain a strict keto diet (<20g carbs/day), and when I'm in ketosis the hunger impulse is almost entirely gone. I'm very active - I train Brazilian jiujitsu and lift - and despite that, there are days that I'll just forget to eat because I'm not hungry unless there's food in front of me. My brain is absolutely addicted to sugar, though, and if I start eating it I get just insatiably ravenous. The combination of sugar/fat/salt together is a perfect storm of "put all that into my face and don't stop until there's no more left" brain chemistry triggers, and how that's most of our prepackaged food is constructed now.
    - yetihehe 4y ago
      I've tried, didn't work for me. The best results was on a special diet I've created myself (based on weighing myself+food and slowly driving that sum down), but after going 116 -> 104kg I felt REAL hunger, where you feel that every cell of your body craves for energy, it was a month after ability to ignore normal "empty stomach" hunger. I went back almost all the way. No other diet came even close to any results, I couldn't even stick to most of them.

loeg 4y ago

Some sweeteners are just sugar plus another molecule to prevent absorption. That’s sort of what orlistat does to oils. It’s somewhat unpleasant because the oils just come out the other end instead of being digested.

anonymouse008 4y ago

Do we know if our bodies still produce insulin in preparation upon tasting something sweet? If so, does that cause harm to our overall metabolic performance?

ghostbrainalpha 4y ago
A lot of "Sugar Free" desserts will cause my Glucose to spike even higher than their full sugar equivalent. I was shocked when I tested myself after buying the diabetes friendly "Sugar Free Worther's Original" candy.
- metadat 4y ago
  Curious if Vitamin Water Zero drinks also effect blood sugar similarly. I've done some web searching but haven't found any results inspiring confidence.